Convenience store proposed near historic Greenville neighborhood

The former Gene's Diner is located where the proposed Spinx gas station would have been built. (Sept. 10, 2012/FOX Carolina)

GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) -

The historic Hampton-Pinkney area of Greenville is located near museums, a theater and a library.

On Monday, Susanna McShea said that's why she moved to the neighborhood.

"It's a very, very beautiful neighborhood and it's kind of the best of both worlds, as far as being within walking distance to downtown," McShea said.

So she said she was shocked when she heard there was a proposal to build a Spinx market with a gas station at the intersection of Buncombe Street and Butler Avenue. The proposed site is located where Gene's Diner now sits empty.

"We've seen drawings, we've seen some plans, but none of them are really in concrete," McShea said.

She said she wouldn't like the traffic and other things a market could bring.

"There could be gas trucks coming and making deliveries in the middle of the night," McShea said.

So she and others packed council chambers Monday night to voice their concerns.

But Stewart Spinks, the owner of Spinx Oil Company, said the proposed market would be different from other convenience stores.

"I want this to be something my family in the future and all of Greenville will be proud of," Spinks said.

He said the market could have a bakery and outside there would only be four gas pumps with a concierge and full service. He said the company would build a brick wall and create landscaped buffers to accommodate neighbors.

The company already owns part of the land, but submitted an application to get the other part rezoned.

"But only .4 of an acre, the parking lot of Gene's was zoned residential, so we're trying to get that zoned correctly and consolidated," Spinks said.

Jo Jorgensen attended the meeting and said she talked to Spinks about the proposal.

"I think being a local company that they would follow through on what they said," Jorgensen said.

She said she would be the one affected the most because her home backs up to Gene's parking lot. Jorgensen said she would rather see the Spinx Oil Company build on the site than an outside company. She said that company might open another kind of business.

"Personally, I would rather see a Spinx than a Taco Bell," she said.

However, when council members voted Monday, they voted "no" to rezone part of the land.

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